JANUARY 25. 1900. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



237 



BUGS. 



Tlic grower is always talking about 

 "bugs," and I want to tell you an oUI- 

 time chestnut, which if you have never 

 heard before may amuse you. 



"Once upon a time," as the old stor- 

 ies begin, there was a man who had 

 more money than brains and after tak- 

 ing care of the poor he devoted the 

 balance of his time to collecting bugs. 

 He traveled all over the world and col- 

 lected cases upon cases of bugs, fixed 

 them up, and when he thought be had 

 the collection complete he called in his 

 fellow bug collectors and with a great 

 deal of pride showed them what he 

 had done. 



After all these "buggy" men had ex- 

 amined all the cases very carefully, 

 one of them said there was to be a 

 special medal given for the best col- 

 lection of bugs, and the owner of the 

 collection mentioned was very much 

 delighted, for he was sure there was 

 not another collection like his in the 

 world, and he wanted to wager that 

 he would win the medal. After some 

 more looking over another of the party 

 offered to accept the wager. This sur- 

 prised the owner, who knew there 

 must be something short, and he 

 begged to know what it was. It turned 

 out that it was a common, every-day 

 louse that was short. 



This rather set back the owner, for 

 he admitted the shortage, but he did 

 not know where or how to obtain a 

 specimen. After a little discussion it 

 was suggested that he start down 

 Chatham street. New York, or Clark 

 street, Chicago, which the owner did. 

 After walking up and down be saw the 

 three balls before a dirty looking store 

 and bracing himself, started in. Af- 

 ter getting inside he started off some- 

 thing like this: "I give money to the 

 poor and I do a great many things, 

 but I am now on an errand that I do 

 not know how to go about." After a 

 little talk of this sort the proprietor of 

 the store said: "Don't be afraid, I 

 won't eat you; ask me anything you 

 wish and I will answer to the best of 

 my knowledge" "Well," says the own- 

 er of bugs, "I want to get a common 

 louse." Thereupon the man behind the 

 case answered by putting his hand to 

 bis hair and inquiring: "Which will it 

 be — a gray, a black or a moss back?' 

 and he quickly had some on the glass 

 of his case. Covering them with his 

 hand, he said: "You can have your 

 choice for $4.00 or the three for $10.00." 

 But though he now had a chance to 

 obtain what he wanted, the owner of 

 bugs thought the price too high and 

 started to argue about it, whereupon 

 the owner of the little store gathered 

 the three together, passed his hand 

 over his head and remarked: "Very 

 well, all I have to do is to put them 

 back into stock." 



The cut flower commission man is 

 in an equally independent position to- 

 day. The dealers, stand keepers and 

 fakirs kick about the price, but the 

 time has come when the commission 

 man is fixed to hold stock, and his 



answer is like that of the man under 

 the three balls: "Put them back into 

 stock." 



COMMISSION BUG. 



A CENSUS OF FLORICULTURE. 



Washington, D. 0. — Owing to the un- 

 usual intelligence of florists as a class, 

 and the fact that the statistics of their 

 business which the Census Office re- 

 quires relate almost entirely to the 

 year 1S99, a plan has been formed for 

 taking an early census of floriculture 

 by mail, on special schedules, and to 

 tabulate and publish the returns there- 

 of early, while other branches of the 

 great work of enumeration are in prog- 

 ress. 



There are approximately 10,500 flor- 

 ists in the United States. The names 

 and addresses of a majority of them 

 have been secured and classified by the 

 Division of Agriculture in the Census 

 Oflice, and each known proprietor will 

 soon receive a copy of the special 

 schedule devoted to this interest. It 

 will be accompanied by a list (so far 

 as ascertained) of all the florists in his 

 section, to be by him corrected, added 

 to and returned to the department for 

 use in making the record complete and 

 reliable. 



This special schedule is not elabo- 

 rate or complicated. It may be filled 

 out easily and quickly by any florist 

 who keeps a i-easonably accurate run 

 of his business. It asks for the (1899) 

 acreage devoted to floriculture and of 

 each crop or variety of plants and 

 flowers; the total area in square feet 

 under glass and the area of each crop 

 or variety of flower or plant raised 

 thereunder; the number of persons em- 

 ployed and the total wages paid to 

 them; the amount expended for cata- 

 logues, postage, and fertilizers respect- 

 ively, and the gross receipts from the 

 sales in each subdivision of the busi- 

 ness. 



No private individuals will be per- 

 mitted to have access to the schedules 

 after they have been filled out and re- 

 turned, nor will the names of persons 

 or firms giving information be pub- 

 lished in the census report. Figures 

 only will be used and published, and 

 the entire process and record of gath- 

 ering information will be confidential. 

 As the law requires the regular enu- 

 merators to obtain certain informa- 

 tion as to tenure, value, etc., during 

 their visits in June, the next census of 

 floriculture, if the florists themselves 

 shall be prompt and conscientious in 

 filling out and returning the special 

 schedules soon to be sent to them, will 

 be the most perfect in history. 



They will be put to no expense, as 

 the necessary stationery, with enve- 

 lopes properly franked, will be pro- 

 vided for their use. 



KANSAS CITY, MO. 



From all reports Christmas trade 

 was about 35 per cent, better than last 

 year. Newell, the popular Twelfth 



street florist, reports the best trade he 

 ever had. In fact all the florists are 

 well satisfied with last year's business. 



Stock is still .scarce, owing to roses 

 and carnations being off crop. Violets 

 have been very scarce and affected 

 with spot, but arc uow coming in bet- 

 tor. Harrisii lilies are beginning to 

 appear. 



H. J. Millat, who has been manager 

 of Geo. M. Kellogg's store, has resigned 

 his position. The last seen of him \>y 

 your correspondent he had on his war 

 paint and was headed for South Af- 

 rica. UNION. 



BURPEE'S FARM ANNUAL FOR 1900.^ 



This popular catalogue is more at- 

 tractive than ever, in a particularly 

 dainty cover for 1900. Nasturtiums, 

 new sweet peas and the famous "Rocky 

 Ford," or Burpee's Netted Gem Melons 

 are shown in colors, painted from na- 

 ture, while the book is full of illustra- 

 tions from photographs. Of particu- 

 lar interest is the new feature for 1900 

 of giving "plain talks" as to the rela- 

 tive value for different purposes of all 

 varieties of vegetables. Another in- 

 teresting feature is the remarkable rec- 

 ord of prizes won by the products of 

 Burpee's seeds at leading state fairs 

 in 1S99. "New Creations" of intrinsic 

 merit are offered in both vegetables 

 and flowers. Altogether the catalogue 

 shows most painstaking care in the 

 effort to "tell the plain truth about 

 seeds" as proved at Fordhook Farms, — 

 the largest trial grounds in America. 

 It will be mailed free to any of our 

 readers who mention this paper, when 

 writing to the publishers, W. Atlee 

 Burpee &; Co., Philadelphia, Pa. 



NEW YELLOW CARNATION. 



A committee of the Monmouth Coun- 

 ty Horticultural Society has made the 

 following report on carnation seedling 

 No. 11, grown by N. Butterbach, gar- 

 dener to Hon. C. N. Bliss, Oceanic, 

 N. J.: 



Color, a beautiful deep yeUow. slightly 

 blotched and penciled with a red orange shad- 

 ing to white. The flowers are full and dou- 

 ble, measuring from 21,2 to 3 inches, with large 

 broad petals, the upper part twisted, which 

 gives the flower a very heavy appearance. 

 The plants are vigorous and bloom contin- 

 uously, much the habit of Maceo, with good, 

 strong stems measuring from 16 to 20 inches, 

 and a good calyx. This we consider to be 

 the grandest of all yellow carnations for win- 

 ter blooming and a valuable addition, as we 

 h.-ive long felt the want ot a good yellow 

 carnation. 



(Signed:) WELLINGTON KENNEDY 



THOMAS MoINTOSH, 

 HUGH BIRCH, 



Committea. 



EVANSVILLE, IND.— The building 

 occupied by Taylor & Angel, who han- 

 dle seeds largely, was destroyed by fire 

 the night of January 11. Loss esti- 

 mated at $8,000, with insurance of $5,- 

 000. The adjoining building was used 

 as a storeroom by John Hubbard, the 

 seedsman, who had a large amount of 

 grass seed there. His loss was about 

 $1,500, fully covered by insurance. 



